In life, once something bad has been said, you can't take it back. In medicine, damaging words can be the biggest obstacle between a provider and a patient's relationship.

We asked our advisory board to share with us some of the worst things that a practitioner can say to a patient during their visit. Some of these damaging words are innocuous and some of the comments go much deeper than that. Other comments reflect the difficult things that providers will have to say to a sick patient, which are not necessarily mean-spirited but reflect a harsh reality.